Kissing Hearts #3: Caitlin's Change of Hearts

The band and I just got back from Chicago, Illinois from our latest concert. We slept over at Caitlin’s apartment because it was already late when we got back. Ever since the day before the concert, Caitlin was working on a new song for us. She worked day and night, and I started to get worried about her.
Finally one morning, Aaron, Joshua, and I paid a visit to see what was going on in Caitlin’s head. “What’s up, Caitlin?” I asked when the guys and I entered.
“Hi! Hey! Yo! Can’t talk. Super busy,” was all that my best friend could say before she got back on the computer.
We stared at each other. She sounded like she didn’t sleep or eat since we got back. “Caitlin, you have to get a hold of yourself,” Aaron snapped, “You’ll die if you don’t get food or sleep into your system.”
“I know, but the new song is due in three weeks and it has to be perfect.”
“At least eat something,” I pleaded.
Caitlin went to the kitchen and grabbed hold of a doughnut. She stuffed it in her mouth and continued to work. She also grabbed hold of a few paper of ideas she came up with. “You can read these if you want,” she said with her mouth full.
I took them from her hand and we read the ideas out. “Sleeping Beauty?” I asked.
“Broken Heart?” continued Joshua.
“Remember Me?” Aaron gulped up with a sick feeling in his stomach, “So far I think Sleeping Beauty was the worst idea you came up with.”
“I know that for sure,” Caitlin peeped up.
Joshua spotted a sheet of paper on the floor. “What’s this?” he asked picking it up. “Michael Jackson?”
“I think I know that name from somewhere,” Aaron started, “but to make sure, who the Hell is Michael Jackson?”
Caitlin stopped working and gasped for breath. She could believe that one of her friends would ask something like that.
“Her favorite pop star ever since she was in elementary school,” I explained.
“He’s also the greatest pop star to eva live on this planet!” Caitlin chirped, “Where has that damn piece of paper gone?”
I took Aaron and Joshua to the kitchen so we could have a private conversation. “We have to do something,” Joshua said.
“I never Caitlin so aggravated before in my life,” Aaron added.
I thought for a few seconds then I snapped my fingers. “I got it!” I cheered.
“Spill,” Joshua ordered.
“How about I email Michael Jackson to come here to judge her music?” I replied.
“Then, Caitlin will stop freaking out,” Aaron concluded.
“I thought I had a pencil here!” Caitlin screamed in terror, which scared us, “I had three pencils to start with now there are two! I hate today!”
“You know what I think?” Joshua asked, “I think you should email that Jackson guy soon.”
“I think you mean fast,” Aaron reminded.
“Very fast.”
“Very very quickly fast.”
“Or now.” I got out my cell phone and typed on the keyboard. Aaron and Joshua followed me out the door.

[(Aaron)[/center]
“What an excuse for a doorman?” Justin snapped as we met him down in the lobby. Nellson was mostly waiting for Michael Jackson to show and we had to be with him when he does. “Who eats half a sandwich then falls asleep on the job?” Justin asked.
“He’s stupid for two reasons,” I said, “One, what you said. Two, he just lost the other half of his sandwich.” I took the sandwich from his cold old hands and bit into it.
Nellson caught me snacking on it. “Aaron! That is so gross!” he snapped.
“It’s Harold’s loss not mine,” I replied with my mouth full.
“If Harold was smart enough, he can kick you out of this apartment,” Joshua said.
“If Jesus was smart enough, he can kick you off this Earth,” I snapped back.
“See that!” he whined to Nellson, “Every time he has a chance of insulting me, he just goes at it like a rocket. He has no self control!”
“I have self control!”
Nellson and Justin had their arms crossed. “Prove it,” Justin said.
“If you can survive a week without saying rude comments, you proved yourself worthy,” Nellson informed.
“What if he does saying something?” Joshua asked.
“If he does, he owes you five bucks an insult.”
“That’s good. That’s means I’ll be rich by the end of the week.”
My eyes widened up like baseballs. I didn’t want to waste any money on a stupid bet. “Wrong,” I taunted, “Cause I’m not gonna say anything.”
“Julia Yates asked me to the winter dance last week and I said, “yes”.”
“Asked you? She’d rather ask a…” I paused because I realized what Josh was doing. “I mean… great for you! I wished she’d asked me, but that’s her decision only, not mine.”
“Good job,” Justin cheered, “Now you have to continue doing that for the rest of the timeline.”
“Oh joy.”
We all heard the lobby doors open up. “Nellson Torres?” asked the voice.
All of our eyes widened up. Nellson turned around. “Michael Jackson?” he gasped.
“In the flesh,” he replied.
“I’m so glad you got my email. My best friend’s gonna be so psyched when she finds out you’re here.”
“When you sent me one of her songs, I wanted to see more myself.”
“Awesome.”
“I hope she’s not freaking right now,” I said.
“She’ll be freaking out when we get up there,” Nellson reminded us.
Nellson, Justin, and Michael went up ahead. Joshua glared at me. “My aunt is my hero,” he said.
I was about to speak until I realized what he was trying to do. “This is gonna be a loooooooooooooong week,” I sighed. We followed the other three upstairs.

I was still working on the new song for the band that was due in three weeks or less. It was going fine, but then I was on music block. I tried different ideas, but they didn’t fit.
I didn’t realize that the guys came back. Nellson slammed the door shut. “Hey,” he greeted.
“Hey,” I said back, “Man, these tempo’s won’t work! I tried all of them, but they don’t fit with the lyrics!” I closed my eyes to think.
“Did you try this?” a voice while clicking some things on the computer.
After he was finished, I looked up and saw how good it was. “Thanks, man,” I added, “How did you know how to… HOLY SHIT!”
The guys started laughing like hyenas. Nellson was tearing up with laughter.
I was stammering like an idiot. “You’re Ma ma ma ma Michael Ja ja ja ja,” I stuttered while I was scared half to death.
“Jackson,” he finished for me.
“Right,” I peeped, “I’m so sorry. It’s just that I was a big fan of your work ever since I was in the 1st grade.” I was sweating from the inside of my shirt.
We shook hands with each other. “Thank you,” he said, “Your friend sent me one of your songs, and I decided to see the rest for myself.”
“You?” I asked Nellson.
“Me,” he replied.
“Him,” Aaron, Justin, and Joshua chorused while pointing at him.
I cleared my throat. “So, are there other reasons why you were in New Jersey in the first place?”
“Yes,” he said, “I was preparing for my next music video. This time with real live animals in it.”
“Cool. What kind? Monkeys? Dogs? Tell me tell me.”
“Tigers,” he answered.
“Sweet! I can’t wait to see it.” I looked down at the papers on the floor. “Please forgive for the mess,” I pleaded while gasping, “I’ve been working on my song all day, and I believe the lyrics, the notes, and the other stuff is finished. I think.”
The other guys knew I was nervous. I never met a real pop star close and personal before.
Michael sat in the chair and looked over song that I was working on. It only took a moment to get it all in.
“Well,” Nellson said.
“Do you like it?” Joshua asked.
“Please say, “yes”,” Justin begged in a whisper with his fingers crossed.
Aaron had his fingers crossed too.
All Michael could do was sigh. “I don’t really like it,” he said at last.
My heart stopped like a powerful force stopped time. I worked on that song since the day before the concert in Chicago started.
Nellson’s jaw was dropped from the base.
“What?” Aaron freaked.
“You don’t hate it, right?” Josh asked with a gap in his voice.
“Do ya?” Justin asked with a frown.
“I don’t hate it,” Michael reminded us, “It’s just… it’s a little childish to me.”
“Childish?” I asked like a scared little kid. I thought Michael was always a fan of childish things. My eyes wanted to water, but I held it in.
“I’m sorry.”
Nellson whispered, “Oh my God!”
I stared down at my shoes for a quick second then I looked up again. I nodded.
“It was nice meeting you, Caitlin,” Michael said shaking my hand.
“Thanks,” I stuttered like I was almost ready to sob my eyes out. Again, I held it in.
He was heading towards the door. “Nice meeting you four.” He opened the door and left.
I didn’t know what to say or think.
“Whoa,” was the first thing Justin said after my hero left the room. “That was…”
“Very surprising?” Aaron finished searching for the right words to say for not make me upset.
I was upset all right. I didn’t show it a lot. I wanted to cry so terribly. It started with little tears.
“Caitlin, are you okay?” Nellson called.
I didn’t answer right away. “I’m fine,” I finally said, “I’m just gonna lay down for a few minutes.” I laid down on the sofa and screamed into the pillow. I let it all out without the boys looking. I thought to myself, Why did I get into music in the first place?

Things with Caitlin got a lot worse than before. She wouldn’t get off the couch for three days. I think I liked better when she was writing the song. She could sleep, but she refused to eat anything. She laid there like a stone. To be honest, I was a Michael Jackson fan myself, but no don’t know what to think after what he sais to my friend. I had to do something.

After Josh settled things up for rehearsal, I came downstairs to call her up. “Caitlin, it’s been three days,” I informed, “You have to come upstairs.”
“Why?” she asked, “Is Santa Claus here to tell me that I’m ugly and have no friends?”
I sighed like I didn’t care at all, but I did care. “Caitlin, stop acting like a sissy and get off the sofa,” I ordered.
“No!” she snapped.
I didn’t want to do this because I had to pull her off like a rag doll. I knew was going to grab on hold of something. “Come on!”
“No!”
The fight continued until she finally fell off the sofa. I sealed my lips only for a few seconds. “You weren’t supposed to fall on the floor,” I squeaked.
Caitlin slowly got up. She pushed her hair back. “Sorry, Justin,” she chirped.
“You should forget about what happened,” I insisted, “He was only one person. Big deal.”
“I know, but Michael was my hero. My role model. His music inspired me to become a pop star.” She sighed for breath. “Maybe I should just…”
I knew what she was going to say, so I tickled her to stop thinking about it.
She laughed and screamed for me to stop. She got out of my grip and ran into the bathroom. She locked the door for sure.
“Caitlin! Open the door!” I shouted.
“I want to be alone!” she screamed.

I was thinking about what happened downstairs, when Joshua and Aaron started to have a huge battle with each other.
First Josh said to Aaron, “Yo, Aaron.”
He looked up from his iPod. “What?” he asked.
“You know what my aunt makes me do every night?”
“What?” he asked again.
“Every night after I take a shower, she makes me sign a piece of paper that proves that I shampooed my hair twice.”
“Say whatever you want, Josh, but you’re not getting five bucks out of me.”
Josh showed a snicker in his grin. “After I’m done with college, I wonder what kind of girl would want to marry me.”
Aaron grabbed a pillow and started to bite into it. He was gasping really hard and growling like a dog playing tug of war.
“I’m also going to the Star Wars party on Sunday at the Legg Mason building in New York. I’m going as Yoda, the Jedi master.”
He felt like he was going to faint. He slid onto the floor and pounded his fists on it like a punching bag.
Nellson came into the room during the time. “Should I call 911?” he asked.
“Wait for it,” I ordered.
Aaron released the pillow and screamed, “Make him stop taunting me to mock him! The pressure is killing me!”
I stood up. “It doesn’t matter right now,” I said, “Caitlin’s seriously depressed.”
“Yeah,” Nellson agreed, “She won’t talk any of us. What’s next? She quit the band?”
“Too late,” I admitted, “That already happened after I spoke to her downstairs.”
The rest of the boys had their mouths to the floor. “You’re kidding, right?” Josh asked.
I shook my head.
“There has to be a way to tell her that her music does not suck,” Aaron retorted.
“I got it!” Nellson announced, “Hearts City!”
“Our video blog?” Josh asked.
“No our tomato farm in Albuquerque,” I snapped sarcastically.

After Joshua set up the equipment, Nellson’s plan was a go. “In 5…4…3…2…1.”
“Hey, Kissing Hearts fans who own computers!” I cheered to start the video.
“You’re logged to HeartsCity.com,” Nellson announced.
“The only real website that causes thunderstorms and prevents zits on your face,” Aaron joked.
“I’m Justin.”
“I’m Nellson.”
“And I’m Aaron.”
Then we all cheered, “And this is Hearts City.”
“I know what you’re thinking,” I said, “Where’s Caitlin, right?”
“She failed to show up because she wants to quit the band,” Aaron admitted.
“We can’t let that happened!” Nellson snapped, “She’s my best friend.”
“But tonight that’s gonna change,” I cheered, “because we have her new song ideas on this site.”
“All the polls will be open by the end of this video,” Aaron informed, “but first we have to show the ideas to you. Bring them up on the TV, Josh.”
“I’m already on it,” he said.
The Flat Screen TV appeared in front of us on the back of the room. “We are going to show you four ideas up on the screen,” Nellson started, “Then, after this video, you can listen to the songs and vote on a worst to successful rating system. You can also post your comments on the site”
“The first one is “Sleeping Beauty”,” I announced. On the TV was the title in pink and magenta letters. “That sounds like me in Math class.”
The others glared at me. “Anyway,” Nellson continued, “The second idea I think is a beautiful classic called “Broken Heart” The letters were red up on the screen and the “O” was shaped like a heart split in two. “I like the “O” in that one, Joshua.”
“The third lucky idea to hatch from Caitlin’s head is “Remember Me”,” Aaron also announced. The screen showed the blue and green letters. “You guys never saw that comin’, right?”
“The last idea of the night is Michael Jackson,” we announced at the same time.
“Don’t be confused when I say that,” Aaron reminded the fans, “At some point, I’m gonna put the head of the worst teacher ever, Ms. Dragonety on his body.”
“Why say that on the web?” I asked him, “She already hates you.”
“Which mean I have nothing to lose.”
“I guess we’re done here. Make sure you vote on HeartsCity.com,” Nellson said.
“Not “.net”,” I peeped up.
““.net” is for retards without lives. I’m Nellson.”
“I’m Justin.”
“And I’m Aaron.”
“See you in Albany!” we all cheered at once.

After the video shooting was over, we counted the votes on the music and printed out all the comments. Most of them were good ones. We had to show them to Caitlin. If we did, she’d come back to the band.
She was watching TV downstairs on the sofa again. She was totally depressed. I grabbed the comments and dropped them right in front of her. She had her WTF face on. Caitlin read a few comments and asked, “You guys played my new songs on Hearts City?”
“Yep,” I answered, “And those are a few comments from our fans.”
“Like a few hundred thousand of them as best guess,” Aaron reminded.
“Most of them said they loved your songs and they are 5 stars,” Justin said.
“Only Sleeping Beauty got 4 stars and one comment was from Aaron’s cousin in prison who said, ‘Who cares about music? Get me out of this death trap from Hell!’” Nellson finished.
Caitlin continued to look through the comments. “Are at least one of these from Michael Jackson?” she asked.
We all knew that she was gonna ask something like that. “Would you forget that guy already?” Nellson snapped.
“I can’t!” She stood up. “He’s like a drug to me. Besides, I got a new job.”
“Whoa whoa whoa whoa!” I stammered, “Like a real job?”
“You can’t have a real job!” Aaron snapped.
“You’re Caitlin Ann Cherniak for god’s sake!” Nellson shouted in disbelief.
“I do now,” she said.
“You have to quit and come back to us!”
“Nellson.” She put her hands on his shoulders. “I’m workin’ at the animal shelter now.”
All of our mouths dropped. She’d rather work at an animal shelter than do music? That made us sick. Caitlin went back into the bathroom.
Justin followed her. He knocked on the door. “Caitlin, open the door!” he shouted.
We heard a knock on the front door. I went to check it out. I jumped when I found out who it was.
“Joshua, you didn’t sign the shampoo agreement,” my aunt, Jane said, “How will I know you double pooed?”
Nellson and Aaron’s mouths dropped to the floor.
“And you thought I was bluffing,” I growled at Aaron.

“Nellson, that is so not true!” Nellson and I came back to Caitlin’s apartment room from after school. Nellson was complaining of how it was his fault for Caitlin quitting the band.
“It is so true,” Nellson whined. “I ruined Caitlin’s life. If I hadn’t emailed that stupid Jackson guy, none of this would’ve ever happened. I’m upset.”
“Does somebody need a guy hug?” I asked.
“Thanks.” We grabbed each of our hands. Then we reached our arms to ours backs.
“Also, does Caitlin take her shirt off while you’re around?”
Nellson was really offended. He flicked me in the head. The pains made me release my grip. Nellson opened the door to Caitlin’s apartment. “Yo, Cait,” he said.
“Hey, Nellson,” she said.
“Hey, kids,” said Josh’s aunt.
“Hi, Ms. Tomak.”
“Aunt Jane? What are you doin’ here?” I asked.
“She going to look after the band while I’m at work,” Caitlin answered.
Our eyes grew wide. “Here?” we shrieked.
“I can’t leave you guys alone in my apartment,” she explained.
“Yes you can,” Nellson insisted.
“Why can’t you?” I asked.
“She gonna stay here?” we both asked again.
“I brought soy chips!” my aunt cheered. I hated those bags. I proffered Doritos better.
“It’s after three,” Nellson said, “How many teenagers who are not in the High School go to work after three?”
“I do,” Caitlin replied.
“Still, we don’t need to be watched over like a hawk spying on mice.”
“Think of me as the stage manger that will hang with you in the afternoons and evenings,” my aunt told us.
Nellson didn’t love the idea. I didn’t either, but Nellson made a big deal out of it. “Is this gonna be a regular thing?” he screamed. He turned to me and said, “Not that I like your aunt, she’s awesome.” I knew he was lying. He turned back to Caitlin and screamed, “Is this gonna be a regular thing?” again.
“For now, yes,” she said.
“Caitlin, you should quit that new job of yours and join us again!” I snapped.
“Nellson. Josh. I’m a animal shelter employee now,” was the last words she said to us.
Nellson ran after her, but the doors closed before he can get out. He and I mumbled, “Damn.” This was gonna the worst day of our lives.

I came back to school the next day. I was in my worst mood I’ve been in. It was because of yesterday.
“Sometimes I can’t imagine how Josh lives with his aunt,” I told Aaron while we were walking to our lockers. “She wouldn’t let us eat snacks, she blocked all the good TV shows, and she let us eat ravioli with a spoon.”
“Why?” Aaron asked. He thought that was ridiculous.
“Cause she said, ‘Forks are dangerous. They can make your tongue bleed’.” I stuck out my tongue in disgust.
“That’s so not good.”
I finally noticed that Aaron was so jumpy.
“Nope. Not at all.”
“Are you okay?” I finally asked.
“No,” he answered, “I’m flippin’ out, man! I haven’t insulted Joshua in days and the week is only half over.”
“Insult him once to calm yourself down,” I insisted.
“I can’t! I can’t afford the five bucks. I spent my sisters’ money on jerky and water.” He banged his head on the lockers. “OW!”
“Can you solve this later? This is Caitlin I want to talk about.” I was dead serious about that.
“Sorry,” Aaron said. “She got a new job, and it’s all Michael’s fault.”
“I know. I wish I could just stab his tongue with a fork. We need to talk to Michael and fast,” I added.
“Ain’t he still in the state?” Aaron asked, “Was he supposed to be shooting a new music video?”
“You’re right,” I said, “We have a chance. You, Justin, Josh, and I will go to the video shoot and talk to him.”
“What if he’s busy?”
“We have to try.”
Joshua came over, and he was holding green clothes. “Hey, Nellson. Hey, Aaron,” he greeted, “What do think of this outfit? I am wearing this to the Star Wars party on Sunday.”
Aaron was going to explode. He pushed a kid away from his locker. He stuffed his head in it and screamed his stress out. He shut the locker closed and said, “Have fun at the stupid party, Yogi!” he shouted while heading to class.
“It’s Yoda,” Joshua reminded him.
“Whatever!”

After school, we headed to the video shoot at Great Oak Park near Hammarskjold Middle School. Michael was busy all right. He was giving commands everywhere. We arrived just in time. The video didn’t start for the next few minutes. We rushed toward him. “Michael!” I called, “Do you have a minute?”
“Sorry, I’m busy,” he chirped.
We stared at each other. “But this is really important,” Justin added.
Michael took a cheese cube from the table. “I love cubes of cheese,” he said.
Justin and Aaron took the cheese off the table too. Justin took the cheddar and Aaron took the pepper jack.
I was disgusted. “Ever since you said that her work stunk, Caitlin turned very depressed,” I explained.
“Can somebody put that muzzle on him?” Michael asked changing the subject.
“Got it, sir!” called one of his crew.
“Thank you!”
“How would you feel if your hero told you that your work sucked balls?” Joshua asked in a snapping tone.
“I’m my own hero,” he replied.
“Mr. Jackson! We’re ready!” someone called.
“I have to go.” We all glared at the superstar. “All right! Lets get the show on the road!”
“So much for the talking,” Aaron snapped with sarcasm.
“Now what?” Justin asked.
“You guys go home,” I said, “I’m going to take Caitlin home with us. I don’t care what she says; she’s coming home right now.”
One of the crewmembers came to us. “Is this on right?” he asked with the muzzle on the tiger.
“I don’t know!” I snapped. I was too stressed out to think.

My new job sucked big time. I had to work in the hospital part of the shelter. At the moment, some nerdy guy and me had to work on a frog. It was gross. It was a good thing that I was wearing goggles and gloves. The frog kept squirting water at my face. I was disgusted.
“It’s true,” the guy said, “I learned in school that if you pressed on the frogs’ back for too long, it squirts water out of its throat.”
“Oh joy,” I said sarcastically.
The frog squirted at me again. I grabbed a towel and wiped the crap off.
Nellson entered the room. I knew what he wanted. “What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I’m taking you home right now,” he responded.
My partner stopped working and said, “Hey. We’re in the middle of an operation here, buddy, so you have to leave.”
“Yeah, Nellson, go home,” I retorted.
“Wait!” He stopped working. “Nellson Torres from Kissing Hearts? My sister loves you, man.”
Ribbit, went the frog.
“That’s cool,” Nellson said.
“You can stay here as long as you want.”
“Thanks.” He came to the other side with his arms crossed. The frog squirted me again. “Fun job?” Nellson asked.
“Nellson, why are you here?” I asked again.
“I don’t care about what Michael Jackson said. You’re coming with me.”
“I told you that I have a new career choice. Besides, it’s fun.” The frog squirted me again. I squeaked with disgust. I grabbed hold of the towel again. “Go home,” I said again.
“Good. Take me there!”
I hated it when Nellson got difficult. “For the last time I’m…” I heard the door open again.
Michael Jackson entered the operation room. “Hello C.C.,” he said.
“Hey, Michael,” I stammered.
“Hey,” the science freak snapped again, “You can’t be in he…” He soon realized who was here. “Michael Jackson the King Of Pop?”
Ribbit?
“That’s me,” Michael answered.
“I love your music, dude. You can stay in here as long as you want.”
Ribbit! Ribbit!
“I believe that was a complement,” he said to the frog, “and thank you.” Like Nellson did, he came to the other side.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. I didn’t expect a superstar to come to an animal shelter.
“Nellson came by my video shoot today and told me that you decided to quit music,” he explained putting his hand on Nellson’s shoulder.
“Yeah, I did,” I replied, “It’s okay. It’s not your fault that my work was terrible.”
“It’s not terrible,” Michael finally blurted out. We—as in Nellson and I—didn’t know if he was admitting or sucking it up from my guilt. “It’s good. No, terrific I should say.”
I started stammering. “But but but but…”
“But why did you say that you didn’t like it?” Nellson asked for me.
“To be really honest,” Michael started, “after I saw your work, I was very jealous.”
I started to chuckle up. “Jealous?” I asked. “Of me?” I thought he was lying again, “You’re kidding, right?”
“Your music was better than what I’ve done in a very very long time.”
I was speechless. All I did was gasp short breaths. Nobody really cared about what I’ve done before. It felt like Michael shot me in the heart. I fell to the ground in faint.
Nellson grabbed me by the arms and lifted me up to my feet. “Now you believe you’re talented?” he asked me in relief.
“Caitlin. Do the whole world a favor,” Michael said holding me by my arms, “Be that artist.”
“Okay then,” I stammered still.
“Hey, guys.” It was the science freak. “If you’re as good as that guy says you are, how about making me a new song for the animals here. The new biggest hit on the radio. I’ll pay you one hundred thousand bucks for each person who works on this project.”
Without any hesitation, I said, “Done.” We both shook each other’s hand.
Michael tapped me on the shoulder. “I was wondering if you needed help with that project,” he added on to the conversation.
KO again. I was out like a light. Nellson got me onto my feet again. “You’re saying that you wanna help me?” I asked, “On a new song?”
“Only if you don’t faint every time I talk to you.”
I agreed with the idea. The fainting did get old after for a while.

Before we entered the room, Nellson, Justin, and I spied on Michael and Caitlin doing their new song. We heard the conversation clearly.
“Do you think I’m making the notes too high for the guys here?” Caitlin asked.
“Don’t ask me,” Michael responded, “It’s your choice.”
“But I want your opinion.”
“You don’t need my opinion.”
“I crave your opinion.”
“I rather crave a hamburger.”
“Luca will make us hamburgers as soon as we’re done,” she laughed. The argument was pretty stupid.
We finally entered the room. “What’s up, guys?” I said.
“Hey, guys,” Caitlin chirped, “The new song is going great.”
“I’m just glad that you’re back to normal again,” Nellson sighed.
“Is Josh with you?” Michael asked.
“Nope,” I answered, “but since Caitlin’s back he’ll be here in…”
Joshua opened the door and said, “What’s up?”
“… Zero milliseconds.”
“I would’ve been here sooner, but I had to help Aunt Jane knit a sweater for the Sewing Committee,” Joshua explained, “Any comment, Aaron?”
My mouth started to water. “Please let me insult you once free, and that’s it,” I begged.
“Sorry. Five dollars an insult.”
“Then, I think it’s really sweet that you helped your auntie knit.”
“Nice.”
“You’re just God damn lucky that I’m broke,” I hissed.
“Is that animal shelter nerd really gonna pay you one hundred thousand bucks each if you get that song in?” Justin asked.
“Paid,” Caitlin corrected him. She took out the pack of money from her pocket.
“In advance,” Michael finished as he was holding his pack.
All of our mouths dropped. All of that for one song? Normally, people would pay you $20 each time the song plays. “And since you got my music career back,” Caitlin started, “35 for Justin, 35 for Aaron, 35 for Josh, and lastly, 36 for my best friend, Nellson.”
She didn’t have to give us her money, but we got her career back. Nellson was mostly the kiss up at the moment. “Aww. I’m special,” he squeaked.
I looked at the money. “And now that I have $35,” I said staring at Josh, “You’re the biggest nerd I’ve ever met.”
“Thank you,” Josh replied.
“Your breath smells like dead rats.”
“Nice.”
“No girl would ever want you ‘til you die.”
“Noted.”
“If you were a country, you’ll be El Salvadorka.”
“Clever.”
The others couldn’t believe this. They laughed at us. My mouth wanted to scream those words out badly since the beginning of the bet. I already wasted $20.
“Your favorite color is green cause you make me sick,” I continued.
“Noted again,” Josh said.
“Did I make fun of your butt yet?” I asked.
“Nope.”
“It’s oddly shaped.”
“Thanks.”
“So is your head.”
“Great.”
I still couldn’t believe that I wasted all my money on a stupid bet. All of the $35. Now Josh had $70 to spend. I couldn’t take the pressure anymore, so I had to do it. It did make me feel better. Sadly, I had no money left either.

The song became a great success. Also, everything was really back to normal. Caitlin came back to the band and she started eating again. After the song came out, we didn’t stop listening to it. I could remember the lyrics.

Caitlin: (Spoken) Just listen.

(Sung) I woke up that mornin’
Thought I was goin’ nowhere

Another disaster in my life
‘Til you met me right here
I know that everything’s gonna be okay now

If that love was I have
From one to two
But that did hold enough
‘Til skies turned blue

There were many other ones
From that knife
But from million to one
To the end of life

And I was sayin’ yeah yeah yea-yea- yeah
Michael: (Spoken) There were 1 out of 20 of others, but only you were shined by God’s light.

Caitlin: Michael, out of that sea of people, I think the only thing you saw was…
(Sung) Me

Michael: Now that the worst was over
I don’t know what to do now

For the rest of the world
The only thing now is you girl

Caitlin: And you think that everything’s gonna be alright babe

Both: If that love was I have
From one to two
But that did hold enough
‘Til skies turned blue

There were many other ones
From that knife
But from million to one
To the end of life

Michael: And I was sayin’ yeah yeah yea-yea- yeah

Caitlin: (Spoken) It felt like everything was gonna fall apart. Then, I say your face and changed my mind.

Michael: All that and the only thing you saw…
(Sung) Me

Caitlin: This song’s for the lovers that agree and say yeah yeah yeah yeah

Michael: This song’s for the lovers that also agree and say yea-yea-yea yeah yeah.

Both: This song’s for the lovers that are sayin’ ooooooo-oh yeah-hah oooooooo-oh yea-hah

If that love was I have
From one to two
But that did hold enough
‘Til skies turned blue

There were many other ones
From that knife
But from million to one
To the end of life

“That was awesome,” I said after the song was over.
“Thank you,” Caitlin replied.
Justin was checking the computer. “Hey, guys!” he called, “You have to check this out!”
We ran over to Justin’s laptop. “What’s the matter?” Aaron asked.
“”Me” already reached the top 100 list,” Justin answered.
“Holy flab!” I screamed.
“I was gonna say that!”
“This proves that the band can’t break now,” Nellson explained.
“I know that now,” Caitlin sighed, “I’m sorry that I quit over something so retarded.”
“It wasn’t retarded. You just had to get over it.”
“That’s never gonna happen again,” I said.
“Right,” the rest chorused.
Cait stuck her hand it. “One!”
Nellson. “Two!”
Aaron. “Three!”
Justin. “Four!”
Lastly, me. “Five!”
“Kissing Hearts!” Our hands flew into the air as we laughed.